Villa Rica, Georgia
Villa Rica is a city that is half in Carroll County and Douglas County in Georgia. The population of the city is 13,956. Demographics As of the 2010 U.S. Census, the racial composition of the city is: 52.56% White (7,335) 37.65% Black or African American (5,255) 5.32% Hispanic or Latino (743) 4.46% Other (623) 15.1% (2,107) of Carrollton residents live below the poverty line. Theft rate statistics Villa Rica has average rates of Pokemon theft and above average rates of murder, both of which are increasing. The city reported 16 Pokemon thefts in 2018, and averages 3.87 murders a year. Pokemon See the Carroll and Douglas County pages for more info. Fun facts * Early Villa Rica had a Wild West atmosphere complete with Indians, horse thieves, and vigilante justice. The Creek Indian village was located on Sweetwater Creek east of town. They were hunters, not warriors, and were friendly toward the white settlers, eventually taking on work among the settlers. Townspeople were invited to Creek celebrations including a three-day festival held each autumn with lots of food and activities. At some point later in the 1830s, the Creeks moved to either Arkansas or Oklahoma, but local records are unclear whether or not this was by choice or part of the Trail of Tears. The local horse thieves were known as the Pony Club, and the vigilantes were the Slicks. At first, the Slicks would just hold Pony Club members caught stealing horses until a jury trial could be held. But Pony Club members usually had no trouble finding witnesses to prove their innocence, so the Slicks eventually started holding their own trials and the guilty were whipped. Things came to a head during the election of 1832 when large numbers of Pony Club members and Slicks got into a brawl. The Slicks won the fight, and the Pony Club demanded a grand jury try the Slicks on charges of assault and battery with intent to kill. However, the jury ended up commending the Slicks and thanking them for their work. * With the arrival of the new railroad line, Hixtown and Cheevestown combined to become the new city of Villa Rica. The first train rolled through town in June 1882. A round-trip ticket from the Union Passenger Depot in Atlanta was only $1.00. This young community experienced two disastrous fires almost immediately. The first fire occurred in the business section on Montgomery Street in 1890. An entire block of stores composed entirely of wooden buildings was destroyed. The second fire occurred the night of July 27, 1908. The fire was bolstered by heating oil and chemicals from the drug store in which it started. Because of the strength of the fire, much of the focus was on saving the stock of the affected stores. In all, one-quarter of Villa Rica's business district was destroyed in three hours. In 1957 an explosion caused by a gas leak destroyed four buildings and killed 12 people. ** The Bankhead Highway was surveyed and eventually passed through Villa Rica in 1917. Named for Alabama Senator John Hollis Bankhead, it was the second transcontinental highway in the United States and the first all-weather one. In the 1930s it was rerouted through town, taking down the Velvin Hotel and extending Montgomery Street westward. It was a main east-west route through the area until Interstate 20 opened in December 1977. * Villa Rica has a bit of amenities to offer. It has a Walmart, Nintendo World, some fast food and a couple of chain restaurants, a bit of local restaurants and businesses, a sports complex, a landing strip, a few public battle fields, dollar stores, Ingles, Home Depot, Publix, a bit of hotels, the Mirror Lake Golf Club along Lake Val-Do-Mar, and a few other things. Category:Georgia Cities